KARNS CITY — After two quarters, Karns City seemed to be well on its way to handing Punxsutawney its first loss of the season.

The Gremlins had turned three first-half turnovers by the Chucks into a trio of touchdowns and led 19-0 at the break.

But 24 minutes of football remained, and Punxsy made KC pay for never slamming the door shut.

The Chucks held the Gremlins to just 93 yards of offense in the second half and put up three unanswered scores to escape Diehl Stadium with a 22-19 victory Friday night.

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“We had some things go against us later in the game. A bad punt, committed some penalties,” KC coach Joe Sherwin said. “We have to play smarter when we’re trying to close out a game.”

The Gremlins (3-2, 1-2 District 9, Region 1) had watched their lead dwindle to five points, 19-14, but seemed to come up with a key defensive stop with five minutes left in the game. Forced to punt from their own 28-yard line, the Chucks (5-0, 3-0) retained possession when KC was flagged for roughing the punter.

The Chucks did not let their new life go to waste. Maddox Hetrick passed to Beau Thomas and Max Presloid for a pair of 12-yard gains.

Jordan Rutan totaled 20 yards on back-to-back runs and capped a 12-play drive with a 2-yard plunge, then added the two-point conversion run that put the Chucks up 22-19 with just 38 seconds left.

Rutan finished with 140 yards on 22 carries.

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The Gremlins’ last gasp yielded two incomplete passes, a run for negative yardage and a sack.

“We hurt ourselves in the first half and challenged our kids to come out and play Punxsutawney football over the last two quarters,” Chucks coach Brandon Snyder said.

The Gremlins forced Hetrick to throw his first two interceptions of the season in the first half — the first, snagged by C.J. Emrick in the first quarter, set up KC’s second touchdown, a 3-yard run by quarterback Cole Johnston.

The second came late in the second period. Owen Kaufman jumped a curl route and picked the pass off at Punxsy’s 10.

Four plays later, Johnston connected with Kaufman for a 7-yard score with no time on the clock.

The turnover bug bit the Chucks early. On the first drive of the game, Thomas caught a 41-yard pass from Hetrick but was stripped of the ball, and Celtan Hackwelder recovered at KC’s 30. Johnston raced 47 yards for the game’s first score seven plays later.

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The Gremlins went for two points following their first two scores and failed. Following their touchdown on the last play of the first half, Brock Dittman booted the extra point.

“Trevor Rumbaugh is normally our kicker, but was injured in a soccer game (Thursday),” Sherwin said. “Brock is new to the team, and we didn’t know if he was ready. But after going for two and not getting it twice, we sent him out there.”

One thing the Chucks did well throughout the game was hold in check KC’s running back duo of Hunter Scherer and Owen Heginbotham. They had been averaging 153 combined yards per game, but were held to 77 yards on 26 carries.

“They are two important cogs in our offense, and we knew we had to get them going,” Sherwin said. “But Punxsy is big up front and they’re tough to move.”

Hetrick hit Jaden Greenblatt from 19 yards out late in the third quarter, and a two-point pass to Max Presloid was good to cut Punxsy’s deficit to 19-8.

The next score was bizarre. KC was forced to punt from its own 33, but the kick went nearly straight into the air, bounced at the 30 and began rolling backward. Teeg Hetrick scooped the ball up at the 25 and sprinted to the end zone, making it 19-14 with 8:53 left.

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KC hosts Central Clarion next week.

“We have 12 seniors, some good leadership,” Sherwin said. “I think we’ll be able to come in Monday and focus on the future.”

Punxsutawney 0 0 8 14 — 22

Karns City 6 13 0 0 — 19

First Quarter

KC — Cole Johnston 47 run (run failed), 6:53

Second Quarter

KC — Johnston 3 run (pass failed), 10:00

KC — Owen Kaufman 7 pass from Johnston (Brock Dittman kick), :00

Third Quarter

P — Jaden Greenblatt 19 pass from Maddox Hetrick (Max Presloid pass from Hetrick), :04

Fourth Quarter

P — Teeg Hetrick 25 punt return (run failed), 8:53

P — Jordan Rutan 2 run (Rutan run), :38

Individual Statistics

Rushing: Punxsutawney, Maddox Hetrick 8-5, Jordan Rutan 22-140. Karns City, Nathan Hess 3-21, Hunter Scherer 16-56, Owen Heginbotham 10-21, Cole Johnston 14-70, Ronald Sczygiel 1-1.

Passing: Punxsutawney, Maddox Hetrick 10-16-99-2. Karns City, Cole Johnston 5-11-35-0.

Receiving: Punxsutawney, Max Presloid 2-12, Beau Thomas 3-56, Logan Moore 4-12, Jaden Greenblatt 1-19. Karns City, Bryce Galan 1-8, Carter Farren 1-4, Owen Heginbotham 1-1, Owen Kaufman 1-7, Trevor Geibel 1-15.